Minnesota CCW: 15-year-old arrested in father's shooting (AP anti-gun bias strikes again!)

Duluth News-Tribune ^ | Jun. 23, 2004 | ASSOCIATED PRESS

[jdege]

15-year-old arrested in father's shooting

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ASKOV, Minn. - A 15-year-old boy was arrested in the shooting death of his father Tuesday.

The youth's 14-year-old sister called 911 around 8:30 a.m. to tell authorities her brother had shot their father. Her 11-year-old brother was home at the time, but their mother was at work, investigators said.

Norman Rudolph Wright Jr., 48, was found dead on the front lawn of his home, about five miles northwest of Askov. The boy had fled in the family's sport utility vehicle. He abandoned it about two miles from home and started walking, authorities said.

Deputies from three counties, joined by agents from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and state troopers, began searching for the teen, but a collision repair shop owner and his friends were credited with catching him about 1 p.m.

The shop's owner, Matt Gebhart, had heard news reports about the search.

"We just saw him coming up the dirt road, and we asked him where he was going. ... He looked suspicious. Asked him if he had a gun -- he said, 'yeah,' and we told him to throw it down and that we were calling the police," Gebhart said.

The youth put the gun down and followed their instructions to lie down, Gebhart said. They watched him until officers arrived about three minutes later.

"We have no clue as to the causation of this," Pine County Chief Deputy Steve Ovick said. "The father of a 15-year-old son -- it's just quite tragic."

Wright and his family had moved to the Askov area from the Twin Cities about a year ago, investigators said. Askov is about 90 miles north of St. Paul.

The 15-year-old was taken to the Pine County Jail. A court appearance was scheduled for today. Police said the youth could be charged as an adult.

[jdege]

"We just saw him coming up the dirt road, and we asked him where he was going. ... He looked suspicious. Asked him if he had a gun -- he said, 'yeah,' and we told him to throw it down and that we were calling the police," Gebhart said.

He'd just killed his father, was fleeing from police, was carrying a gun, and then just politely handed it over when asked?

What little detail is missing from this story?

[jdege]

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[I still care]

"The boy had fled in the family's sport utility vehicle."

Hey, an SUV too. Two for one in this story.

[jdege]

The Strib has a more balanced report:

http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4842144.html

Teen held in father's shooting death

Tracy Swartz, Star Tribune
June 23, 2004

ASKOV, MINN. -- For more than four hours Tuesday, authorities searched this small town and the surrounding woods and prairie of Pine County looking for a boy who allegedly shot and killed his father earlier in the morning.

For more than four hours, the word was out that a 15-year-old boy was on the run.

So when the teenager appeared, armed with a gun, near Hwy. 23 just south of town early Tuesday afternoon, the three men working at a nearby auto shop -- Matt Gebhart, Scott Jorgensen and Brian Volk -- knew what to do.

They got their guns.

Minutes later, they surrounded the boy and talked him into dropping the gun. Deputies arrived a short time later and arrested the boy, identified by acquaintances as Dallas Wright, in connection with the shooting of his father, Norman R. Wright Jr., 47, on the front lawn of the family's home.

[...]

Alex Askelin, 16, who lived near Dallas in Apple Valley, described him as "a good kid" who was always in a bit of trouble. He said Dallas ran away from home several times and once stole his mother's car and got into an accident. "He'd do something, get grounded for four months and then go straight and get grounded again," Askelin said. "He'd keep messing up."

Staff writer Richard Meryhew contributed to this report.

The writers can be reached at tswartz@startribune.com and richm@startribune.com.

The report doesn't mention it, but word among local police is that Gebhart, Jorgensen, and Volk had carry permits.

[mtbopfuyn]

"We have no clue as to the causation of this," Pine County Chief Deputy Steve Ovick said.

Who says "causation"? Oh, never mind, this was his first time in the limelight and was trying out big words.

Well, folks, here's another article that doesn't report the whole story. WHY did the kid kill the dad? WHAT was the dad doing to cause (you know, the causality) the kid to go for the gun? WHERE or WHO might the kid have been running to or running away from other than the scene? And of course the getaway vehicle would be an evil SUV.

[Sabatier]

Who says "causation"?

The same people who say "utilize" in place of "use"!


Well, folks, here's another article that doesn't report the whole story. WHY did the kid kill the dad? WHAT was
the dad doing to cause (you know, the causality) the kid to go for the gun? WHERE or WHO might the kid have
been running to or running away from other than the scene? And of course the getaway vehicle would be an evil
SUV.

Exactly.

[jdege]

The detail I'm noticing is that the three guys who stopped him were armed, and carrying guns legally under Minnesota's new handgun permit law.

An earlier story in the Strib makes it sound as if he'd discarded the gun before being caught:

http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4841254.html

15-year-old arrested in shooting death of his father in Pine County

June 22, 2004

The search for a 15-year-old boy from Pine County, Minn., who was wanted in connection with the fatal shooting this morning of his father, ended about 1 p.m., when authorities arrested the boy just south of Askov, Minn.

[...]

Ovick said a local businessman spotted the boy about 1 p.m., walking near Hwy. 23 just south of Askov. The boy had been carrying a handgun, Ovick said, but discarded the weapon shortly before being detained.

[Lion Den Dan]

Stop griping. You are asking for the basics of press reporting and know that the press does not do that any more. They tell you all you need to know.

[ModelBreaker]

The same people who say "utilize" in place of "use"!

LOL. Or "Prior to" instead of 'Before.'

[brbethke]

bump

[wallcrawlr]

Underreported story of the day...

[brbethke]

you-got-that-absolutely-right bump